Gaming Control Board Approves $47,000 Fine For Underage Patron Violations

HARRISBURG, PA: The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today fined Downs Racing. L.P., operator of Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, a total of $47,000 for three occurrences where persons under the age of 21 played slot machines.

The civil penalty was unanimously approved by the Board at its public meeting Thursday in Harrisburg as part of consent agreement between the Board’s Office of Enforcement Counsel and Downs Racing.

The Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act provides that it is unlawful for persons under 21 years of age to wager, play or attempt to play a slot machine or table game at a licensed facility.

This was the fifth occasion in which Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs was fined by the Board for similar violations, the other four occasions occurring in December 2007 for $1,744.99, January 2009 for $5,000, September 2009 for $49,500 and September 2009 for $49,000.

The latest violations occurred between February 22, 2010 and June 9, 2010:

February 22, 2010 – a 19-year-old female gained access to the gaming floor and placed wagers on slot machines for approximately 2 hours, then exited and reentered the gaming floor before being identified by Mohegan Sun security manager as being underage.
May 13, 2010 – a 20-year-old male gained access to the gaming floor and placed wagers on slot machines for approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes. A PGCB Casino Compliance Representative identified the individual as being underage.
June 9, 2010 – a 20-year-old gained access to the gaming floor and placed wagers on slot machines for 1 hour and 18 minutes. The individual provided a Mohegan Sun security officer with a Pennsylvania Identification Card that belonged to an individual who was 23-years-old. A PGCB Casino Compliance Representative approached the individual and determined that the identification provided did not belong to him, and when asked, the male admitted that the identification belonged to another individual. The individual was also cited by the PA State Police for carrying false identification along with underage gambling.

The next regularly scheduled Board meeting is Thursday, January 6, 2011 at the State Museum Auditorium in Harrisburg. The meeting will begin at 10:00 a.m. An agenda for that meeting will be posted on the Board’s web site, www.pgcb.state.pa.us, prior to the meeting.

About the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board was established in 2004 with the passage of Act 71, also known as the Race Horse Development and Gaming Act. Pennsylvania’s first new state agency in nearly 40 years, the Gaming Control Board is tasked to oversee all aspects of the state’s casino industry. To date, with ten casinos in operation, legalized gaming in the Commonwealth has created, or helped race track facilities retain, nearly 14,000 living wage jobs, provided property tax reduction in each of the past three years for all homeowners, produced revenue that has reinvigorated Pennsylvania’s horse racing industry, and provided a new stream of tax revenue to local governments that has funded scores of community projects. A wealth of information about the Gaming Control Board and Pennsylvania’s gaming industry can be found at www.pgcb.state.pa.us. At this web site, visitors can view videos of Board meetings and on the operation of the PGCB, obtain information on identifying a gambling problem and gaining assistance, look up future meeting schedules and past meeting transcripts, access an interactive map of casino locations, request a speaker for their group, along with much more information.

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